A friend of mine and myself decided to get back into factorio again (haven't played since early 0.15) and were discussing the starting options. The one we disagree on the most is combat. I don't care for it at all, I always play with biters completely disabled. Whereas he spends most of his time in a tank sparring with them. Which actually worked in the past, because he could get the artifacts and protect the factory, while I did my thing in the factory. However, since biters now are nothing more than waves of bullies coming to destroy your toys, even he agrees to just remove them completely. This got me thinking on what I'd like to see to make me enable biters again. Here's a few thoughts I figured I'd throw out there.
First of all, make it a general AI that actually "build" a factory. In this context biters are just a possible variant, using organic buildings and focussing on military science. This allows AI to "preview" setups that a player could learn from or even copy. This makes for a more organic way to "discover" how to build things. This is of course optional and nothing stops you from figuring it out yourself and building it however you want.
Have the AI factories become more complex the further away you are from spawn to encourage exploration. Find better setups and/or setups for more complex products further out. Maybe find remains of a factory that was once there. Allowing you to copy/blueprint layouts, scavenge for parts (being able to find some fast and/or filter inserters or mk 2/3 assembly machines, or even some robots early game before being able to make or have researched them is nice).
You could even have some branches in the research tree locked behind having to find an AI with that technology first. Though that would force a concept not everyone might like. Maybe be able to toggle that with a generation option or difference game mode.
To take that up a notch you could even make them factions. The biters being a faction that is permanently hostile, but having a friendly AI factory nearby that you can trade with would be cool. The most generic currency I could think of would then be science packs or other components. Trading raw resources for the finished products, making it so you don't have to do the processing. Or trading intermediary products for the finished product against slightly better ratios (i.e. an assembly machine costing a few gears and iron plates less overall). That trading could then help them grow (basically the evolution for biters now), growing their factory, eventually even making a train station, alowing you to better automate the trading.
This would also make the tutorial levels a lot more interesting. Instead of just finishing some half-built setup, or having to build something because that's how it works. Start with a friendly AI nearby and tell the player the AI solved making science pack 1s in *this* was (focussing the screen on that part of the AI's factory) and giving the player not only free reign to solve it in their own way, but immediately seeing a working version of it.
There are of course some problems with having other factions build in the same map as you, not even taking into account how much more complex AI would affect performance. How to stop players from building straight through an AI's factory, breaking it? Maybe have AI attack your buildings if you're too close or in the way. Simply not being able to place anything too close to enemy buildings, etc.
At this point we ranted long enough and just wanted to play, so that's about all I've got. Any thoughts or suggestions? And if this is well received, is this forum the way to pitch ideas to devs?
Making biters fun
Moderator: ickputzdirwech
Re: Making biters fun
Do you know that this is a good idea ?
The problem : AI
In fact the AI could replicate know blueprint in the game memory , but would have some pain to design itself the base.
Do you see that point that i want you to know ? Yep : Pretty all game would look likes the same as before.
It would be a very good new feature, but after a while the friendly AI would have built a lot a thing that you saw from him long before...
In fact it could even be a pain in the ass : Look at that massive good patch of uranium, THAT THE AI STOLE
Anyways still a good thing !
The problem : AI
In fact the AI could replicate know blueprint in the game memory , but would have some pain to design itself the base.
Do you see that point that i want you to know ? Yep : Pretty all game would look likes the same as before.
It would be a very good new feature, but after a while the friendly AI would have built a lot a thing that you saw from him long before...
In fact it could even be a pain in the ass : Look at that massive good patch of uranium, THAT THE AI STOLE
Anyways still a good thing !